I am running Ubuntu Maverick Meercat and do not have any firewall or antivirus installed.

Am I being naive in my belief that they are unnecessary overheads?

I am aware of Firestarter and have used it on other machines when I needed to set up Internet sharing for my USB CAT CDMA modem.

However since Ubuntu 10.04 Internet sharing is VERY easy to set up without Firestarter, so I have stopped using it

Opinions please.

Edit

To answer my own question I just found this interesting page

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/security

However I am still interested in the views of you guys out there

Viruses are virtually non-existent on linux. The permissions system and built in security make it difficult (but not impossible) to make them. Since MS has the market majority, combined with gaping security holes thats what 99% of virus developers focus on.

By keeping up to date, avoiding logging in as root and sudoing for added privileges your system should be safe.

As for a firewall, you have one installed. IPtables are built into linux and perform firewall functions.

Chances are it won't be configured too heavily but if you get paranoid you can easily add extra rules and lock the system down.

However for the average home user, standard settings will be fine - just run the update regularly.

Your reply is in line with what I have found since posting my original question.

Whjat initially prompted me to ask was this article in the register "Linux bug bestows attackers with 'superuser' powers" but then again if an attacker has "superuser rights would a firewall be of any use anyway?

Note I see the bug has been fixed, but there may be another one

desktop behind a router with built-in firewall --> probably no need

laptop that you like to carry around and connect to unknown networks --> use iptables. simple rules that should be quite safe: [ http://wiki.archlinu..._firewall_HOWTO ]

HTH

GuardDog or Firestarter for firewall; Clam for AV. Yes they are almost nonexistent but ueasy enought to install from Synaptic package manager.

I have been using Linux for some 5 years now and know all the arguments, and they are valid, but why not install security?

Apple fanboys all believe they are safe but the bugs are starting to appear. So don't trust in obscurity.

i have been running various flavors of linux for over 15 years, and i have NEVER installed any antivirus or additional security precautions on any desktop or laptop i have used in that time. i have even repeatedly tried to open known infected email attatchments on several of my machines, with no ill effects. (of course on the servers i manage i have taken security precautions, but even then have only used virus protection on shares accessible by windows machines). as someone else said, most (like 99.5%) of all known virii are targeted at microsoft operating systems, and i think something like only 1% can even have any affect on a linux system. exploits are a different story, but if you use good passwords and don't allow remote root access, then there is really very little to worry about. oh, and as to the article from the register... "The bug in the Linux implementation of RDS, or reliable datagram sockets, protocol can be exploited by local users". so one would have to already have gained access to the local system in order to take advantage of that bug, so i certailnly wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

k

Your reply is in line with what I have found since posting my original question.

Whjat initially prompted me to ask was this article in the register "Linux bug bestows attackers with 'superuser' powers" but then again if an attacker has "superuser rights would a firewall be of any use anyway?

Note I see the bug has been fixed, but there may be another one

I have three large dogs in my yard that prevent it.

I use Shorewall for firewall, much easier language to use then iptable rules (underlining rules though are still iptables). ClamAV for virus scanner.

Some say you not need antivirus for Linux, but we all sometimes exchange files with MS-Windows, and Apple Mac users, so antivirus is still a helpful tool. Avast has a free antivirus package for Linux, with an easy installation procedure for Ubuntu.

A Complete how-to-install can be found here

I use Avast on Linux. Just because Linux isn't vulnerable to much malware doesn't mean it can't be a carrier and pass it on which won't make you popular.